Week 9 – Mission Objectives

I think its time to organize the blog. I found out that the NFL is having a contest for the “best Super Bowl commercial ever.” http://nfl.com/superad - How people will be judged seems kind of vague as it only says “Contestants will be judged on their idea's originality, how well their pitch is tied to the NFL and on how well the idea translates to television.” So, I’m inviting all the millions of readers of BSD to help contribute any ideas they may have about TV commercials involving the NFL.

There is only one problem with this contest is that it only takes place in three cities – New York, Dallas, and Denver. This means that if anyone on the blog decides to do this, there’s a limited amount of time to do it. Here are the dates and places where you have to be to sell your superad - New York - Giants Stadium on 11/17 & 11/18, Denver - Invesco Field on 12/8 & 12/9 .

The New York dates are on a Friday, and on a Saturday during the Ohio St. – Michigan game. Even if none of us participate in this interesting contest due to the limited available days, I think that BSD may be able to conjure up some great ideas for our own commercial. So, I invite everyone to post ideas as they come up during the next few weeks. Maybe we could tie-in something w/ Cobra Commander and Sgt. Slaughter? Not sure, but I’ll try and brainstorm as well.

On to the games…

Manwich Matchup of the Week -
Indianapolis at New England – As if there was any doubt this week who was getting a Manwich… every person in America will probably talk back and forth about this game during this week. I’m going with the home team because a loss here will 1) motivate the Colts throughout the season, 2) end the silly talk about going undefeated, and 3) one of my superstitions is that when teams play only once during the season, the rematch goes the other way, therefore, Indy should lose just so they can surprise the Pats if they have to play in the playoffs. Pick: New England

Upset of the Week-
Cincinnati at Baltimore – The Ravens are 3.5 point favorites, so this qualifies as an upset, and Cobra Commander should just stop complaining right now. The Bengals are facing near desperation mode, and cannot afford to fall further behind the Ravens. As long as the Bengals don’t give up any defensive touchdowns to the Ravens (like most of the other teams Baltimore has played), the Bengals should be able to squeak this one out. Also, the Benglas have an advantage with a dancing Ocho Cinco. Pick: Cincy

Atlanta at Detroit- This could be a shootout in the dome. Pick: Atlanta

Dallas at Washington – The Redskins had a bye, and I’m guessing that will be very helpful in their preparations for Tony Romo-cop. Pick: Washington

Green Bay at Buffalo – This game could go either way. Pick: Buffalo

Houston at N.Y. Giants – Eeessh… just when I was ready to use David Carr as my backup fantasy QB, he gets benched last week in favor of Sage Rosenfels, throwing my whole fantasy team into disarray. Pick: Giants

Kansas City at St. Louis – Will each coach have to attempt to cry in honor of Dick Vermeil? Pick: St. Louis

Miami at Chicago – Has anyone else out there ever played NES Play Action Football? These were my two favorite teams to use in that game. Granted, the game only had 8 teams. The game was really revolutionary because players fatigued. The problem was, the fatigue formulas in the game weren’t right – if you didn’t alternate QBs on each drive, your QB would get carted off the field from exhaustion by the third quarter. Pick: Chicago

New Orleans at Tampa Bay – This could be a tremendous game. Every NFC South game is a tough one to pick, but I have to believe in America’s team. Pick: New Orleans

Tennessee at Jacksonville – Jacksonville is the most unpredictable team in the NFL. I’m never going to trust them again in a “survivor pool.” Pick: Jacksonville

Minnesota at San Francisco – I don’t condone gambling… however I felt like a degenerate gambler watching New England taking on the Vikings this past Monday. The tiebreaker for this pool I’m in is “total Monday Night points.” I picked 40, my competitor picked 38. With 12 minutes to go, the score was already 31-7, so I was pretty optimistic. Time was ticking away, and with 4 minutes left the Vikings went for it on 4th down from the New England 10 yard line, because they didn't want a measly field goal. Amazingly, that wasn't the end of the drama.... the Vikings then got the ball back again with 2 minutes to go, and Mewelde Moore ran 60 yards to the New England 15!!!! (I’m getting excited) The backup QB, Brooks Bollinger, then threw to a wide-open WR in the endzone (could it be?!?)… but he threw one of those high-lofting balls (a meatball? A floater? A girlie throw?), giving the Patriots enough time to intercept it. (My heart sinks as I’ve now lost)......But wait! The Patriots didn't decide to just take a knee, the cornerback started running it back (I have a chance!)- 30 yards, 40 yards, 50 yards, 60 yards!... until finally QB Brooks Bollinger stopped him at the Viking 30 yard line. What were the odds that Brooks Bollinger would manage to stop me at both ends of the field? Pick: Minnesota

Cleveland at San Diego – No, this is not one of my six designated weeks to pick the Browns. Pick: San Diego

Denver at Pittsburgh – I’m going with the desperate team here, no matter how foolish that may seem. Pick: Pittsburgh

Oakland @ Seattle – The uncertainty of David Carr has forced me to start Seneca Wallace in that one fantasy league. The good news … he’s playing the Raiders! Pick: Seattle

Last Week: 10-4 (back on track)
Season: 70-44
Manwich: 6-3 (thank you Peyton)
Upset of the Week: 2-6 (Go Vick Go!)